Machine for making wicks



Oct. 10, 1944. s. s sTElNBERG 2,360,080

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIGKS 3 Sheets -Sheet 1 Filed July 1, 1943 Oct. 10, 1944.

S. S. STEINBERG MACHINE FOR MAKING WICKS Filed July 1, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1720372??? km (I 122223 Oct. 10, 1944.

s. s; S TEINBERG MACHINE FOR MAXIM WICKS Filed July 1, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Oct. 10, 1944 MACHINE FOR MAKING WICKS Samuel S. Steinberg, Boston, Mass.

Application July 1, 1943, Serial No. 493,169

4 claims.

' This invention relates to the manufacture of wicks of a type suitable for stove oil burners.

Such wicks are made of porous, non-combust-ible, sheet material such as asbestos in tubular form, through which the oil is drawn up from asupply and at the upper edge of which combustion of the oil takes place. It has been found desirable to form such a wick vertically crinkled or corrugated, and in order to hold the wick in that condition, it may be reinforced with stiffening material such as wire screening.

The present invention has for an object to wrap the wick strip inthe wire screening and to crimp or \corrugate the product in lengths which may have their ends secured together to form the desired tubular wicks.

A strip of screening such as is suitable to be wrapped laterally about the wick strip is lateral- 1y flimsy and unstable so that it is difficult to retain it centered laterally with relation to the Wick stripping, which it is important to do.

The present invention, therefore, has for one object the presentation and control of the wick and the screening strip in accurate widthwise centered relation and the folding of the screening strip about the Wick while this relationship between the strip is maintained. This causes the edges of the screening strip to come together on one face of the wick and to lie at substantially uniform distances from the edges of the wick.

A further object of this invention is to provide a mounting for the screen material by which widthwise portions thereof may be cut off successively and employed to Wrap the wick material.

For a more complete understanding of this invention, together with further objects and ,advantages, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a wick forming machine embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view on line 2-2 of Figure 1. 7

Figures 3 to 6, inclusive, are detail sectional views on the correspondingly numbered section lines of Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary rear end elevation .of the machine showing the cutting off mechanism.

Figure 8 is a perspective view .of the wick strip ready to be curved into annular form and its portions secured together.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the completed Wick.

Figure 10 is a detail sectional view on line 80-40 of Figure 2.

Figure 11 isa detail sectional .view on line li-H of Fi u e 0- Figure 12 is an exploded perspective view of a reel for supporting a roll of screening, the reel being adjustable to the width of the screening.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, the machine comprises a pair of spaced parallel frame members l and 2, the frame I being extended at the starting end of the machine beyond the frame 2 to form one side of a widened portion having an oppositely positioned frame member 3 parallel to the frame member 2, but much more widely spaced from the frame member I. The frame members I and 3 form supports in which may be removably journaled trunnions 5 of a pair of reels 6 shown best in Figures 10, 11 and 12. Each of these reels comprises a central shaft 1, opposite ends of which form the trunnions 5, end collars 8 pinned thereto providing stops positioned outwardly of the frame members I and 3 and removably retaining the trunnions therein. Each of these reels has a fixed head member 9 and an axially adjustable head l0.

Spaced around the shaft 1 are a plurality, three being shown, of rods H, each having one end headed in the fixed head 9 and extending through an opening 12 in the adjustable head ID. A collar I5 outwardly of each of the adjustable heads l0 and secured as by a set screw 16 to the shaft 1 may be employed to fix the outer limit of position of the movable head of each reel at any desired time. ,Each of these reels is intended to have wound thereon a length of wire screening as 20, which as shown best in Figure 11, may have one end margin hooked about one of the rods ll.

One of the reels, such as the upp r reel, with a coil of screening wound thereon is positioned with its trunnions resting in the open topped bearings 22 at the top of these frames, and the screening is led down from this reel between a pair of straightening bars 25, around a roller 25, and between a pair of rotary shafts 26 and 21, each carrying a pair of disk knives 28, 2e, and 33, 3|. As shown best in Figure 10, these knives are arranged toward the fixed ends of the reels, the knives 28 and 33 being arranged to trim off any irregularities along the edge of the screening, and'the knives 29 and 3! being arranged to progressively slit off a strip 32 of the screening along one margin thereof. All except the relatively narrow strip of screening slit off is then led down to the lower reel, the trunnions of which are mounted in the open top bearings 35 of the oppositely disposed frame members I and 3. A friction drive wheel 35 resting on the edge of the fixed head 9 of the lower reel and carried by a shaft 31 which carries a belt pulley 38, over which passes a drive belt 39, acts to rotate the lower reel so as to wind up the screening thereon which remains after the removal from one edge therefrom of the strip 32. This arrangement of reels permits strips 32 to be cut successively from the side frame members I and'2.

edge of the screeningas itlpasses from the upper reel to the lower 'reel. After the lower reel be comes completely wound with the screeningand the upper reel is emptied, thepositions of the reel are reversed andthe adjustable heads are moved over toward theflxed heads by the width of the strip cut therefrom. Thus a wide strip of the screening is successively cut into the narrow I 'stripsfwhich as will later appear, are employed to wrapithe wick strip and the strip 32 'slit'off 'is substantially centrally between the frames I r and 2 no matter what the width of the screening from which the strip is out off. The belt 39. which drives the lower reel is driven by other mechanism in the machine as will later appear. V t r A narrower strip of wicking such as asbestos fabric or sheet material is progressively superposed on the strip ofiscreening 32 and the edges of the screening are turned .over the edges of the wicking material and folded down there- 1against.- The, folding means comprises a plur-l ality of'sets of cooperating rolls; As shown three such sets 'of rolls are employed comprising upper rolls 50, 5I and 52 with correspondingly con "toured lower rolls 53; 54 and 55, respectively' The lower rolls 53, 54 and 55 are 'journaled in the The upper roll 50 and the shaft 26which carries the upperslitting knives 28 and 29 are journaled in equalizer bars 56 which are spring pressed "downwardly-to hold them into cooperative re1a-- tion -to their cooperating lower mechanisms.

Thismay be done, for example, as shown in Figure 3,-by, the use of eye bolts 66 extending vertioally through the equalizers 56 adjacent to their centers' oflength and carrying at their upper;

ends coilsprings 6I reacting between washers 62 v restingagainst the top face of the equalizer and I a plain-surfaced roll of a width substantially equal to the width of the space between the fold lines 82 and 83 of the screening strip and of a width to pass between end, flanges 85 of thelower roll- 54. This roll 5| presses the-wicking strip against. the top face of the screening strip 32' and the flanges 85 bend up the margins'of the screening stripabout their fold lines 82 and 83 into substantially vertical position, as shown in Figure 4.' V

The top roll '52, as'shown best in Figure 5,-

g has oppositely inwardly inclined peripheral surfaces 86" which engage the outer faces of the I folded up margins of the screening as they leave '9I by turning an adjusting screw 95 [provided nuts 63 threaded on the upper ends of the eye bolts." The ye portion of each of these bolts 1 is secured as byv a screw 55'eXtending' there-' a through and through a spacing collar 66 and into the corresponding side frame member I or 2.

The roller 50, as best shown in Figures :1 and 3,

is provided with a pair of spaced series of. points or prongs II! positioned inw'ardlyjof taperedperipheral portions 'II which extend outwardly to end flanges 12. These prongs I 'arearranged to'pass through the meshes of the screening strip 32, as shown best in' Figure 3, and they project into peripheral grooves I in the lower ro1153.

The surfaces of thisrollwhich'come opposite to the inclined portions II of'the'roll 56, as at 16,

are complementally tapered sothat the screening has its marginal portions bent along a pair of spaced lines outwardly of the series of prongs 10, thus to produce two starting fold lines for the opposite marginal portions of the strip 32. v The prongs I0, together with the, end flanges 12 f of theroll 59, serve to guide the screening strip 7' a 32 in a straight linefpreventing it from being -deflected laterally; such screening being quite flimsy laterally so that without these provisions it would be difficult to maintain the lines of fold of its'margins in parallel relation to each other.

The upper, rolls 5! and 52, are mounted on equalizer bars 56, as previously described. These the preceding rolls 5I and 54 and folds them down 'part way toward the upper face, of the wicking strip a' in the manner shown in Figure 5.

Next, the two strips pass between a pair of upper and lower rolls 99 and 9|. The upper roll 99 is carried on a shaft92 which may be adjusted toward the shaft 93, which carries thefroll member I or 2 holds the'shaft 92 as'far" above the shaft 93 as is; permitted by the adjusting screws 95. The upper roll.9ll is'provided-With V end flanges lfiflbetween which are laterally arranged gear teeth I92, and the lower roll 9I is provided with laterally arranged teeth lllll which extend between'the flanges I 00 and enga ebetween the teeth I02 of the upper roll 90. These rolls thus have intermeshing gear teeth between which" the foldedstrips are passed. These rolls also serve to complete the'folding of the marginal strips Of the screenin ,flat against the upper face of the wicking strip a, and they also serve to laterally corrugate-the strip material so that it comes out therefrom in the condition 1 shown in Figure 8. The strip thus corrugated wicking strip as'by-means of a cam I I19 carried sets of 'rolls 5|, 54 and 52,55 are'contoured to I 7 further bend the marginal portions of the screening aroundthe wicking strip a supplied from a roll 80 and-passing around'ja'pulley BI and progressively led onto the upperface of the screenand between the fold lines at 82 and 83 produced by the first set of rolls-56 and 5 3. I I

As shown best in Figure 4 the upper r0115! is ing strip 32 between the upperrolls 59 and 5!,

5 passes down a trough at I05'and beneath a piv-l oted chopping knife II I6 by which it is cut off into lengths as shown inlFigure 8. These lengths of material comprising the wicking ,strip about which the screening strip is wrapped may then have their ends secured together as by staples IIILas shown in Figure 9, to form the com;- pleted wick. I r Y a The chopping knife I06 is shown as fulcrumed adjacentto one end as on thescrew I0! and is normally held withits cutting edge elevated as by a leaf spring I08 (see'Figure 7) but it may be depressed at intervals to cut off the wrapped by a rotary shaft llfljournaled in a bearing III secure'dto the end portion of the machine. The fulcrum bolt I01 may have a spring H2 thereon which tends to keep the knife-I66 up against the end of the cutting plate H4 with which it cooperates in cutting off the folded and crimped or corrugated wicking material.

'The various parts of the machine may be driven by power and for'this purpose the shaft H0 at its inner end carries-a beveled gear I20 with which meshes a bevel gear I2I on a drive shaft I22 having a belt pulley I23 at its outer end andabout which a belt I24 passes from any suitable source of power (not shown). This shaft I22 may be connected'through a train of gears comprisingthe gear I25, a change gear I26 on a link'frame comprising the links I Z Tand I28, and a gear I29 on one end of the shaft 92. One end of the link I21 may be fulcrumed on the shaft I22 and the link I28, which is pivoted to the end of the link I21, may have a slot I30 therethrough through which the shaft 92 of the upper roll 90 passes. This arrangement provides for a power drive of the upper roll 90 which through the intermeshing teeth of this roll and the lower roll and the interposed strips positively drives the lower roll 9|. The remainder of the upper rolls are shown as driven through an endless belt I35, one stretch of which passes around a belt pulley I36 on the shaft 92 and around alternately positioned idlers I31 and drive pulleys I38 on the shafts of the upper rolls 52, 50, and the upper slitting knife shaft 26. The idlers I 31 are positioned above the axes of the upper rolls so as to increase the extent of wrapping of the belt about the driving pulleys of these rolls. The upper stretch of the belt I35 is out of contact with the upper rolls, being passed about the idlers I39 at opposite end portions of the machine. I

Similarly the lower rolls are belt driven by the belt I40, one stretch of which passes alternately about driving pulleys of the shafts of the lower rolls and idlers I4I, there being one Stretch of the belt held away from these driving rolls and idlers as by means of the end idlers I42.

It will be noted that this machine cuts off strips of screening material from a supply roll along one edge, and progressively wraps the margins of this screening strip about the margin of the strip of wicking, the wrapped product being then corrugated or crinkled laterally and then cut off into lengths suitable for being curved into wick formation and so secured as shown in Figure 9.

From the foregoing description of an embodiment of this invention, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. Mechanism for folding the margins of a strip of screening about the margins of a narrower wick strip, which comprises a series of pairs of folding rolls, one of the rolls of the first series having laterally spaced sets of spaced points projecting from its periphery for engagement within the meshes of said screening strip inwardly of the margins to be folded, and the other of said first pair of rolls havin peripheral grooves to receive said points, the confronting faces of the rolls of said pair outwardly of said points and grooves being complementally inclined from parallelism with their axes to define lines of fold in said screening strip inwardly from its side edges, means for progressively laying the narrower strip between said lines of fold, the faces of the other pairs of rolls being complementally formed to progressively increase the bend at said lines and finally to fold said screening margins back toward the central widthwise portion of said strips and against the exposed face of said narrow strip, a pair of intermeshing laterally toothed rolls between which said wrapped strip passes to corrugate said wrapped strip transversely, and means for driving said pairs of rolls.

2. Mechanism for folding the margins of a strip of screening about the margins of a narrower wick strip, which comprises a series of pairs of folding rolls, one of the rolls of the first series having laterally spaced sets of spaced points projecting from its periphery for engagement within the meshes of said screening strip inwardly of the margins to be folded, and the other of said first pair of rolls having peripheral grooves to receive said points, the confronting faces of the rolls of said pair outwardly of said points and grooves being complementally inclined from parallelism with theiraxes to define lines of fold in said screening strip inwardly from its side edges, means for progressively laying the narrower strip between said lines of fold, the faces of the other pairs of rolls being complementally formed to progressively increase the bend at said lines and finally to fold said screening margins back toward the central widthwise portion of said strips and against the exposed face of said narrow strip, a pair of intermeshing laterally toothed rolls between which said wrapped strip passes to corrugate said wrapped strip transversely, means for cutting said corrugated wrapped strip into lengths, and means for driving said pairs of rolls.

3. A machine of the class described, comprising a pair of spaced frame members, a series of pairs of rolls of which one roll of each pair is between and is journaled in said frame members, means for yieldingly pressing the other roll of each pair toward said one roll, means'for presenting a relatively wide strip of material between the first pair of rolls, the rolls of said first pair being formed complementally to bend the marginal portions of said strip inwardly, means for presenting a narrower strip in superposed relation to said wide strip between said marginal portions, later pairs of rolls being complementally formed to progressively fold said marginal portions inwardly and wrap said narrower strip within said wide strip, a pair of said rolls positioned after said folding and wrapping rolls having intermeshing teeth between which said wrapped strip passes and acting to laterally corrugate the wrapped strips, means for rotating one of said toothed rolls and thereby rotating the other of said toothed rolls to feed as well as corrugate said wrapped strips, and a belt drive between each of said corrugated rolls and one each of said pairs of rolls.

4. A machine of the class described, comprising a pair of spaced frame members, a series of pairs of rolls of which one roll of each pair is between and is journaled in said frame members, means for yieldingly pressing the other roll of each pair toward said one roll, means for presenting a relatively wide strip of material between the first pair of rolls, the rolls of said first pair being formed complementally to bend the marginal portions of said strip inwardly, means for presenting a narrower strip in superposed relation to said wide strip between said marginal portions, later pairs of rolls being complementally formed to progressively fold said marginal portions inwardly and wrap said narrower strip within said wide strip, a pair of said rolls positioned after said folding and wrapping rolls having intermeshing teeth between which said wrapped strip passes and acting to laterally corrugate the wrapped strips, means for rotating one of said toothed rolls and thereby rotating the other of said toothed rolls to feed as well as corrugate said wrapped strips, and a belt drive between each of said corrugated rolls and one each of said pairs of rolls, said drive including idlers positioned between adjacent rolls of the several pairs and about which and said adjacent rolls one stretch of each belt passes, the other stretch of each belt being out of contact with said rolls.

SAMUEL S. STEINBERG. 

